The MOVE Bombing – When Police Plotted to Exterminate a Family – Abby Martin’s Empire Files

On May 13, 1985, one of the most shameful, horrific attacks by U.S. police ever took place in West Philadelphia. 11 people—including five children—were killed in a deliberate massacre. A racist and political attack on a radical community group known as the MOVE Organization, city and police officials were revealed to have intentionally set their home ablaze, let the fire rage, and violently kept escaping men, women and children trapped inside.

Featuring a harrowing first-hand account with the only adult survivor of the atrocity, Ramona Africa, Abby Martin documents an indispensable—but largely unheard of—moment in American history. From MOVE’s formation, to the arrest of the MOVE 9 political prisoners, to the build-up to the infamous bombing, The Empire Files chronicles an act that cannot be forgotten.

Abby Martin is a journalist and presenter of The Empire Files, a weekly investigative news program on teleSUR English. She was formerly the host of Breaking the Set on RT America network, working from the Washington, D.C. bureau. Abby also is an artist and activist who founded the citizen journalism organization Media Roots. She serves on the board of directors for the Media Freedom Foundation which manages Project Censored. Abby appeared in the documentary film Project Censored The Movie: Ending the Reign of Junk Food News (2013), and co-directed 99%: The Occupy Wall Street Collaborative Film (2013). Follow her on twitter @AbbyMartin